Cliff Burton’s dad donates Metallica royalties to music scholarships

Kevin Kane/Contributor/Getty ImagesThe family of late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton still receives royalty payments from the three albums on which he played: 1983’s Kill ‘Em All, 1984’s Ride the Lightning and 1986’s Master of Puppets. As it turns out, part of that money is used to help kids pursue music.

Speaking with the Alphabetallica Metallica fan podcast, Burton’s 92-year-old father, Ray, explains that he donates part of the royalties to Castro Valley High School, which Cliff attended, to fund music scholarships.

“The kids that have won it…thank me for it,” Ray said. “I think Cliff probably would have done that with his money, because he was not against education by any means. He liked it very much.”

Cliff died in 1986 in a freak bus accident, just months after the release of Master of Puppets. Bassist Jason Newsted joined Metallica following Burton’s death. He left the band in 2001, after which they recruited Robert Trujillo, who remains the group’s bassist today.